LaviChess
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Chess on a living board

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LaviChess is chess on a living board. The pieces breathe, worry when they are threatened and cheer each other on. Captured pieces sulk on the bench beside the board. Play right in your browser, on your phone or your computer, with no account.

Friday, November 6

Today on LaviChess

Puzzle #10

Today's puzzle

Black to play and mate in three.

Friday teaser · the same puzzle for everyone, new at midnight Swedish time

Solve today's puzzle

Today's classic

Botvinnik vs. Capablanca, AVRO 1938

Mikhail Botvinnik – José Raúl Capablanca · Rotterdam 1938

The passed pawn on e6 and two sacrifices decide.

The key momentAfter 27.fxe6: the white passed pawn on e6 ties down Black's pieces.

Play through the game →

Next arena

Sunday Rapid

Sunday, November 8, 6 PM (Swedish time)

10 + 0 rapid

Next cup

The Christmas Cup

Saturday, December 26, 2026, 3–5 PM (Swedish time)

5 + 0 blitz

An open arena every hour on the hour, around the clock. Tournaments

Play

More ways to play

Play now

Choose a time control and press Play. You meet someone close to your level, and if nobody's waiting, one of the house players takes the seat within a minute.

Find an opponent

With a friend

Send a link, and you're at the same board, wherever you are.

Correspondence chess

One move whenever it suits you.

Simul

You play White on every board: make a move, then walk to the next board.

Tournaments

Join while the arena is open, and you get a new opponent every time a game ends.

Anyone can follow the games from Play now, the arenas and the cups while they're played. Watch

Learn

From the first move to your first game

All lessons

Twelve short lessons with Lavi. You learn by moving the pieces yourself, one thing at a time.

  1. The board and the piecesabout 5 min
  2. The rookabout 5 min
  3. The bishopabout 5 min
  4. The queenabout 5 min
  5. The knightabout 6 min
  6. The pawnabout 6 min
  7. The king and checkabout 7 min
  8. Checkmateabout 8 min
  9. Castlingabout 7 min
  10. En passant and promotionabout 6 min
  11. Stalemate and drawsabout 5 min
  12. Your first gameabout 8 min
Start with lesson 1
RulesAll the rules you need for your first game.TacticsThe fork, the pin, the skewer and the other motifs.EndgamesWhere won games get won.GlossaryWord of the day: outpost. A square where your piece can't be chased away by the opponent's pawns, often protected by a pawn of your own.

Openings

The most played openings

All openings
  1. Sicilian Defense1. e4 c5B20–B99 · 367 million games
  2. French Defense1. e4 e6C00–C19 · 173 million games
  3. Scandinavian Defense1. e4 d5B01 · 132 million games
  4. Caro-Kann Defense1. e4 c6B10–B19 · 129 million games
  5. Queen's Gambit1. d4 d5 2. c4D06–D69 · 121 million games
  6. Italian Game1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4C50–C54 · 103 million games

Games on Lichess that reached the opening's defining position, where the players average 1600 or more. Fetched October 28, 2026.

The opponents

Twenty-five opponents, from clueless to impossible

Every opponent has a style of their own: some attack, some trade pieces, some set traps. The strongest is Lavi, a lion almost nobody beats.

Meet the opponents

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